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Incubator Q&A

Welcome to the staging ground for new communities! Each proposal has a description in the "Descriptions" category and a body of questions and answers in "Incubator Q&A". You can ask questions (and get answers, we hope!) right away, and start new proposals.

Are you here to participate in a specific proposal? Click on the proposal tag (with the dark outline) to see only posts about that proposal and not all of the others that are in progress. Tags are at the bottom of each post.

Questions, answers, and other posts tied to current proposals. Ask questions, post articles, and create wiki pages as you would post them on the "live" site. This "incubator" is how we develop proposals and their scope.

Because some proposals include article-based categories alongside Q&A, we've enabled articles and wiki posts here. This means you'll need to choose a post type when creating a new post in this category.

Filters (None)
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Place an X into seven of the squares

Place an X into seven of the squares so that no square marked with an X is halfway between two other squares that are also marked with an X.

1 answer  ·  posted 8d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 7d ago by Peter Taylor‭

Question puzzles
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Rearrange to make 5 fives

In the diagram below, the number five is made up of 5 identical line segments. Reposition the line segments so the number five appears 5 times. You are not allowed to do anything except moving th...

2 answers  ·  posted 19d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 12d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles
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Fill the 4x4 grid with numbers to make eight arithmetic progressions

In the 4x4 grid below, fill each empty square with a number such that the numbers in each row form an arithmetic progression when read from left to right. Similarly, the numbers in each column shou...

2 answers  ·  posted 30d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 24d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles mathematics
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Draw the boundaries of the eight dominoes

Eight different dominoes lie on a plane. No boundaries between the dominoes are shown in the figure. Draw these boundaries. Clarifications: A domino is made up two square halves joined at a com...

2 answers  ·  posted 26d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 25d ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles
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How much money was in the bag?

In a bag are 26 bills. If you take out 20 bills from the bag at random, you are guaranteed to have at least one 1-dollar bill, two 2-dollar bills, and five 5-dollar bills. How much money was in t...

1 answer  ·  posted 26d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 25d ago by Peter Taylor‭

Question puzzles calculation-puzzle mathematics
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Using the given numbers, make an expression whose value is 639

Using the numbers $3, \ 7, \ 25, \ 50, \ 75, \ 100$ (each used at most once), along with any number of the four basic arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) and ...

2 answers  ·  posted 28d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 27d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles calculation-puzzle mathematics
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Find the shortest possible string containing all permutations of 1, 2, 3

There are 6 permutations of the numbers 1, 2, 3. They are: 123 132 213 231 312 321 The goal is to make a string (as short as possible) using the digits 1, 2 and 3 so that each of the abov...

1 answer  ·  posted 28d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 28d ago by Peter Taylor‭

Question puzzles mathematics
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Can you avoid monochromatic triangles?

In the diagram below we have pentagon ABCDE with 5 edges and 5 diagonals. These 10 line segments are currently all colored black. The diagram contains several triangles but for this puzzle we are...

2 answers  ·  posted 1mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 28d ago by Michael‭

Question puzzles geometry
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Starting with 2014 "+" signs and 2015 "−" signs, you delete signs until one remains. What’s left?

A large whiteboard has 2014 "+" signs and 2015 "−" signs written on it. You are allowed to delete two of the symbols and replace them according to the following two rules. If the two deleted symbo...

2 answers  ·  posted 30d ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 28d ago by Peter Taylor‭

Question puzzles
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What is the maximum number of Amazons that can be placed on a 5x5 chessboard so that no piece attacks another?

An Amazon is a fairy chess piece that can move like a queen or a knight. What is the maximum number of Amazons that can be placed on a 5x5 chessboard so that no piece attacks another? Attribu...

1 answer  ·  posted 1mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 1mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles
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What kinds of ice-melt are safe for young concrete?

We had a sidewalk and driveway replaced this summer (standard concrete sidewalk, nothing fancy). We've been told not to use salt for at least the first winter because it will damage the young conc...

0 answers  ·  posted 1mo ago by Monica Cellio‭

Question home-improvement
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Missing missing digit

A 3 by 3 grid contains each digit exactly once, except one missing digit. A 3 by 3 arrangement of 9 such grids has one missing digit per grid. Each digit is missing from exactly one grid, except o...

1 answer  ·  posted 1mo ago by trichoplax‭  ·  last activity 1mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles
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Letter shifting

I disguised some words by shifting each of the letters the same number of steps through the alphabet, but then I forgot the number. Can you find it and restore the original words? vjsygfkusdwksjwi...

0 answers  ·  posted 1mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles
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How many bananas in a bunch?

Each instance of the word "banana" is in a straight line in one of the 8 directions displayed below: a . . . . . . . a . . . . . . . . a . n . . . . . . n . . . . . . . n . . . a . . . ...

0 answers  ·  posted 1mo ago by trichoplax‭  ·  edited 1mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles wordsearch
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Heuristic for identifying words that are valid Wordle solutions?

Sometimes after I solve a Wordle puzzle I'll see what their bot had to say about my solution. Occasionally one of my words is a legitimate five-letter word (accepted by Wordle) but the bot says so...

0 answers  ·  posted 6mo ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  edited 2mo ago by Monica Cellio‭

Question puzzles solving-process
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Two closed loops

Grid This puzzle is played on a 5 by 5 grid of squares: Tiles There are 25 tiles to be placed on the grid, one on each square. They can each be rotated by any multiple of 90 degrees. Note ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by trichoplax‭  ·  last activity 2mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles grid-puzzles
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Tiling a 6x9 rectangle using two types of L-shapes

In the diagram below, there are two types of L-shaped pieces (one made of 5 unit squares and the other made of 7 unit squares). The goal is to tile a 6x9 rectangle with one or more of the smaller ...

0 answers  ·  posted 2mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  edited 2mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles tiling
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Find three distinct integers such that all pairwise sums are powers of 2.

Find three different integers A, B and C such that A+B, A+C and B+C are all powers of 2. Clarifications: A, B and C can be negative, zero or positive. Powers of 2 are: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, ...

1 answer  ·  posted 2mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 2mo ago by Peter Taylor‭

Question puzzles mathematics
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How do hosting vendors deal with successful attacks at the sites made by them?

Do they have an alert system or the site owner are likely have to detect themselves and report to the vendor? How do they fix the problem? And do they do that for free? As the site owners are their...

0 answers  ·  posted 3mo ago by Ooker‭

Question security business
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Make 3 intersections for each line segment

Draw 8 straight line segments so that each line segment intersects with exactly 3 other line segments.

2 answers  ·  posted 3mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 3mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles geometry
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Packing a 3-dimensional object with 3-dimensional L-shaped pieces

Consider the following L-shaped 3-dimensional object consisting of 3 unit cubes joined at their faces: Is it possible to use six of the above L-shaped pieces to form the following 3-dimensiona...

1 answer  ·  posted 4mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 3mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles
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Delta and Epsilon play a game with marbles

There are $146$ marbles in a bucket. Delta and Epsilon play a game in which they take turns removing marbles from the bucket with Delta going first. At each turn the player can choose to remove e...

2 answers  ·  posted 3mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 3mo ago by Peter Taylor‭

Question puzzles
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Alpha and Beta play a game with marbles

There are $100$ marbles in a bucket. Alpha and Beta play a game in which they take turns removing marbles from the bucket with Alpha going first. At each turn the player can choose to remove eith...

1 answer  ·  posted 3mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  edited 3mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles
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Construct a cube and a pyramid

Consider the following L-shaped 3-dimensional object made up of three unit cubes joined at their faces: Puzzle 1. Use 9 of the above L-shaped pieces to make a cube. Puzzle 2. Use 10 of the ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 3mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles
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Mutilated chessboard problem

This post describes a classic puzzle. If you have previously seen this puzzle I request that you allow someone else to solve it and post their answer. Thank you! Mutilated chessboard problem: ...

1 answer  ·  posted 4mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 3mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles
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Would someone with highly specialized bat-like wings be capable of flight or gliding abilities

So I was designing this superhuman criminal whose largely just a common burgler. As I was designing her and her powers, eventually I thought of the idea of batwings on the back largely because I th...

0 answers  ·  posted 4mo ago by Melchizadek ‭  ·  edited 4mo ago by samcarter‭

Question worldbuilding
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Droppable Square numbers

A number $\large X$ is defined to be a Droppable Square number if the ordinary base-10 representation of $\large X^2$ can be formed by inserting the digit $\large 2$ anywhere in the base-10 represe...

3 answers  ·  posted 4mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 4mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles mathematics
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Tiling a 5x9 rectangle with L-shaped pieces

Consider the following L-shaped piece made of three unit squares joined at their edges: Allowing rotations of the L-shaped pieces, you can easily tile a 2x3 rectangle with two of the above L-sha...

1 answer  ·  posted 4mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 4mo ago by Monica Cellio‭

Question puzzles
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What does the following represent?

What does the following image represent? Description of above image for those who can’t view it: On the left: Horizontal line with a green happy face above it and a green letter K below it. ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 4mo ago by Monica Cellio‭

Question puzzles
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Connect the dots, A to A, B to B, C to C and D to D.

Join the pairs of dots marked similarly (i.e. A to A, B to B, etc.) using four lines which do not cross or touch at any point. The routes must follow the lines of the grid, and may not pass through...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 4mo ago by Zoe‭

Question puzzles
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Food for thought

My fifth is an organ, it's revelatory, My sixth from a slitherer telling its story. My first lacks aspiration but's bringing it still, You’re half way to working this out if you will. My third ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by trichoplax‭  ·  last activity 4mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles riddle
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A knight's sightseeing tour

Puzzle How short can you make a closed knight’s sightseeing tour? Terminology Standard terminology A chess board is an 8 by 8 chequerboard. A knight is a chess piece that moves 2 squares hor...

2 answers  ·  posted 5mo ago by trichoplax‭  ·  edited 5mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles
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Connect the dots, red to red, green to green and blue to blue.

Draw 3 lines, not necessarily straight, connecting the dots and satisfying all the following conditions: No line may touch or intersect another line. Every line must be completely inside the ci...

2 answers  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by Monica Cellio‭

Question puzzles
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Fill the circles so that consecutive numbers are not adjacent

In each puzzle, fill the circles using all the positive integers 1, 2, 3, ... n, where n is the number of circles in such a way that consecutive numbers are NOT in circles that are joined with a li...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

Question puzzles
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There is an intruder in our cat party!

Here’s a cute puzzle you can share with children. Can you find the intruder?

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by Monica Cellio‭

Question puzzles
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A miniature Sudoku puzzle with a twist

Fill all 16 squares with a number so that every row, every column and every 2x2 box contains all the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 each exactly once. Also the sum of the numbers in the six squares marked ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles Sudoku
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Pentadoku puzzle with only four clues (Jigsaw Sudoku)

Fill each empty square with a number so that every row, every column and every irregularly shaped region contains all the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 each exactly once. If you enjoyed this puzzle...

0 answers  ·  posted 6mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  edited 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles Sudoku
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Subdividing a circle into 2 halves with equal number of letters A, B and C in each half

Draw a straight line through the center of the circle below to subdivide it into two halves so that each half will have the same number of occurrences of the letter A. Also each half will have the...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles
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Can the blind woman determine the color of the hat on her head?

Three perfectly logical women, one of them blind, walk into a completely dark room full of hats. They all know that two of the hats are red and the rest are black. Each woman randomly selects...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  edited 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles
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Splitting a deck of cards into 2 piles

A blind person is handed a deck of 52 playing cards and told that exactly 10 of these cards are facing up. How can they divide the cards into two piles, not necessarily of equal size, with each...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles
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Find the pattern in the fingers

Find the pattern in the fingers:

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by Olin Lathrop‭

Question puzzles
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Equal dot counts

Place the 9 tiles in the 3 by 3 grid. The curved lines on the tiles must divide the grid. The regions the grid is split into must contain equal numbers of dots. The curved lines may stop at th...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by trichoplax‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles grid-puzzles
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Enclosing multiples of 3

Place each of the 9 tiles into the 3 by 3 grid of squares. Each tile may be rotated by any multiple of 90 degrees. Each line on each tile must either meet the edge of the grid or be matched aga...

0 answers  ·  posted 5mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles grid-puzzles
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Wrapping 9 piece puzzle

Arrange the 9 tiles in a 3 by 3 grid so that the lines on them have no loose ends. A line may leave the edge of the grid provided it rejoins on the opposite edge at the same position (the same h...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by trichoplax‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles grid-puzzles
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Polyominoes on a 5 by 5 grid

Arrange the provided polyominoes on a 5 by 5 grid of squares so that there are zero empty squares. The grid The grid is composed of 25 empty squares, arranged in 5 rows and 5 columns. The poly...

1 answer  ·  posted 5mo ago by trichoplax‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles grid-puzzles
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Counter-intuitive triangle areas

The area of a triangle can be calculated as half of the length of its base multiplied by its perpendicular height. This means that two triangles with the same length base and the same perpendicular...

0 answers  ·  posted 5mo ago by trichoplax‭

Question puzzles
66%
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Make 24 with given numbers

For each of these Make 24 puzzles, use each of the four given numbers exactly once, combined only with addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division to make an expression whose value equals 24...

1 answer  ·  posted 6mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles calculation-puzzle mathematics
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A Nob Yoshigahara number sequence puzzle

What number belongs at ? in this sequence? 24 28 33 34 32 36 35 46 52 53 13 11 17 16 18 14 22 ? 33 19 24 Attribution: Nob Yoshigahara in The Mathemagician and Pied Puzzler A Colle...

2 answers  ·  posted 6mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles mathematics sequence
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Toronto and Peru?

What part of Toronto is in Peru?

1 answer  ·  posted 6mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles riddle
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How does half a dozen remain?

If from six you take nine, and from nine you take ten, 
(You youths, now the mystery explain;) 
And if fifty from forty be taken, there then 
Shall just half a dozen remain. The above puz...

3 answers  ·  posted 6mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by will.octagon.gibson‭

Question puzzles riddle